Dealing With Workplace Hostility - Part 1
A work environment is supposed to be a place of relative comfort, of safety, a place of confidence, and ultimately a friendly environment for all employees. However, there are several cases of hostility in many workplaces. These hostilities breed envy, fear, lack of concentration, low productivity, inferiority complex, and so on.
These hostilities may come from employers, other employees, or even from regular clients. In the case of micro business or SME workplaces, even the family members or friends of the employer may be the sources or causes of workplace hostility for employees.
A hostile work environment is a workplace in which unwelcome comments or conduct based on gender, race, nationality, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or other legally protected characteristics unreasonably interfere with an employee’s work performance or create an intimidating or offensive work environment for the employee who is being harassed. - [The Balance Careers]
source
Some of the characteristics of a hostile workplace include offensive jokes, insults, slurs and name-calling, physical assaults, and threats, use of sexually explicit languages, interference with work performance, intimidation, ridicule, and mockery, just to mention a few.
Many employees are victims of workplace hostility, but they'd rather stay in that workplace than go back to job hunting. As a matter of fact, it is not only the target of harassment that is a victim of hostility, but even all other employees that hear the words, or see the actions being shown to the target person. Those others are likely to see that place as being potentially hostile to all.
These workplace hostilities are responsible for several employees quitting their jobs, as well as it is responsible for many job losses, as the affected persons become much less productive than they should be when the environment is healthy for them. In all these, retaliation is not an option. However, the first step that a victim of hostility can take is to instruct the offender to stop.
However, in case the hostility is as a result of the victim's previous offense, a sincere apology (which may also require mediation) might be needed to quash the hostility. In case there was no previous infringement from the victim against the hostile party, the victim should report the case to a superior at work, where there is one.
Where applicable, a victim of office hostility can request for a posting out of the region of hostility to a new environment. In case the hostility is unbearable and there seems to be no solution, it is advisable that you quit the job. It is better to be in the right frame of mind, as well as avoid provocation that might lead to physical attack as a result of the continuous harassment.
source
There are also laws that protect employees from workplace hostility, as well as help seek redress in case an employee is experiencing hostility. This will be discussed next time.
I am...
I am a Proud Member of
@tolustx
In theory, workplaces should be pleasant, but this is not the norm. Many workplaces are almost exclusively for abuse.
It seems that there are some bosses who would like to see employees get into trouble for those of you who divide and conquer. However, much progress has been made in this area, I think.
A workplace should be like our second home, but the reality is that not everyone has that kind of fortune. Particularly here in Colombia there are many jobs where employees are mistreated psychologically and physically, and as you say many do not complain out of necessity, many owners take advantage of the needs of their employees to use them as they please.
I know of an organization where the boss will always look for every little mistake made by employees just to ensure that their salaries are deducted at the end of the month, the employees complain greatly but have been working under such tight condition for several years just because they do not want to go back to the league of job hunters.